Chapter 81: Here for Revenge?

In truth, even if a descendant of a long-lost sword technique had appeared in an East Market alley, Qin Xuanxi would have felt little curiosity. After all, the written history of cultivation stretched back a full seventy thousand years. Over such an immense span, it was natural for many sword techniques to be lost, and, in Qin Xuanxi’s view, most of those lost arts were mediocre at best; their disappearance was hardly lamentable. Furthermore, the sixth cultivator to have just performed that lost sword technique seemed to be at most at the Void-Breaking stage—an insignificant existence, no more than an ant in Qin Xuanxi’s eyes.

Ordinarily, disputes among such ants would not stir her interest in the slightest. However, her honest and upright young husband had unexpectedly appeared at the site of the commotion and even brought back an unconscious woman. Since her little husband had become involved, Qin Xuanxi found herself slightly intrigued and decided to go and take a look.

With a movement technique, she appeared in Murong Qingyi’s residence. Most of the courtyard’s ground was fractured; from the cracks, traces of sword energy still seeped. The air was filled with drifting remnants of elemental dust—undoubtedly, the four sword cultivators had been obliterated by that lost technique, their ashes now mingling with the dust.

Only then did Qin Xuanxi realize that the sword technique, whose name she could not sense, was far more profound than she had initially thought. She closed her eyes, letting her consciousness drift along the seventy-thousand-year river of cultivation history, searching as if for a needle long sunk to the riverbed.

After a while, her eyes flashed open, her lips parted, and she uttered three words: “Annihilation of All Beings!”

Qin Xuanxi had not expected that the Sword Art of the Immortal Sovereign, lost for thirty thousand years, would be revived today in such an unremarkable courtyard. “Annihilation of All Beings” was the unique sword art of Yu Muqiu, the founding patriarch of the Sacred Heaven Sect. The world had always believed this sword art had no successor—so stated both historical records and common knowledge.

Indeed, during the thirty millennia since Yu Muqiu’s ascension, no sword cultivator had ever performed this technique. Yet now, with its reappearance, it was clear that Yu Muqiu must have left behind a secret disciple—just as the “Wine Immortal” Cheng Wanting had Qin Xuanxi as her hidden student. Over these thirty thousand years, perhaps this legacy had been passed down through several generations.

If Yu Muqiu’s successor had remained hidden for so long, why appear now? The question was intriguing.

A sneer curved Qin Xuanxi’s lips. Could it be that this long-hidden successor had come to seek vengeance for the destruction of their sect? After all, Yu Muqiu was the founder of the Sacred Heaven Sect, and her disciple would count as a member of that sect.

And it was Qin Xuanxi herself who had obliterated the Sacred Heaven Sect; all seven thousand disciples within the sect perished by her hand. Thus, if Yu Muqiu’s successor now emerged seeking retribution, it would be only natural.

As for why this successor appeared here and why they killed four sword cultivators on this spot, Qin Xuanxi could not say. Yet she had no intention of dwelling on it. Many wished her dead, but few even dared stand before her.

From her senses, Yu Muqiu’s successor was only at the Void-Breaking stage—a mere ant. Why should she care?

With that, Qin Xuanxi flew back to her own courtyard, sat cross-legged in meditation, and waited for dawn.

…

Morning, at the hour of Mao.

Song Ye returned to the yamen punctually to report in, his night patrol concluded. Of course, he felt not the slightest fatigue; with his current physical strength, even ten days and nights without rest would pose no problem.

Just then, a familiar chime sounded in his mind.

“Ding! Congratulations, player, on completing the adventure quest [Guardian of Life]!”

“Ding! Congratulations, player, you have received the quest reward: [Protector Draw Ticket]!”

“Ding! Congratulations, player, on earning quest experience: three hundred thousand points!”

Just as Song Ye had anticipated, leaving Murong Qingyi in Qin Xuanxi’s care was perfectly safe—she survived until morning, earning him the Protector Draw Ticket and a substantial amount of quest experience.

Now came the moment of fate: the Protector Draw.

Song Ye immediately summoned the game’s Protector Draw interface and used the ticket he had just received.

A golden light flared across the interface. Song Ye had a vague sense of foreboding, for this golden light was dimmer than the previous two occasions.

The result appeared swiftly.

“Ding! Congratulations, host, you have drawn a Purple-grade Protector: [Wei Li].”

[Protector Name]: Wei Li.

[Grade]: Purple

[Background]: Ninth-generation Head of the Grand Void Palace, adept in thunder techniques.

[Level]: First stage of Void-Breaking Realm.

[Skill]: The Fortieth Thunder Technique—Thunder Chain Prison.

As expected, the luck this time was not as great as before. Song Ye had sensed it as soon as the golden light had flashed.

Still, a Purple-grade Protector was nothing to scoff at. This was his third draw: two Golds and one Purple—excellent luck indeed. Since he was the only player, it seemed Gold-grade Protectors were easy to obtain, but once other players arrived and the data pool grew, it would become clear that the odds of drawing a Gold were vanishingly small. His good luck was merely an anomaly.

Wei Li’s initial cultivation matched that of Yu Muqiu and Cheng Wanting, the two Gold-grade Protectors—each at the first stage of the Void-Breaking Realm. However, Gold-grade Protectors could be cultivated to much higher levels, and their growth efficiency was superior.

For example, feeding the same number of Protector Essence Pills to a Gold-grade Protector would yield greater improvements than feeding them to a Purple-grade one.

Therefore, without question, the Gold-grade Protectors must be prioritized—fed to their limit before considering others. Usually, only players unable to draw Gold Protectors would be forced to nurture Purple-grade ones.

For someone like Song Ye, who had drawn two Gold Protectors right from the start, there was no need to consider feeding the Purple-grade Protector. In fact, he had not yet finished nurturing Yu Muqiu and Cheng Wanting and could not spare any extra resources for Wei Li.

Naturally, the Purple-grade Protector could not reside in the [Protector Homestead], so for now, only Yu Muqiu and Cheng Wanting occupied that space.

Although Song Ye did not plan to nurture Wei Li, the latter’s protector skill was quite impressive. Thunder Chain Prison was the fortieth thunder technique—a high-level domain spell, capable of controlling a wide area. In certain circumstances, such a skill would no doubt prove useful.